


Fire

by NorthernSerpent



Series: Falice: From A to Z [6]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-07-01 02:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15765060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernSerpent/pseuds/NorthernSerpent
Summary: This summer is different. Pending divorces, out of town kids, and the threat of wildfire looming over Alice and FP.





	Fire

**Author's Note:**

> For anybody affected by wildfires. Stay safe.

Summers used to mean family road trips in Middle of Nowhere, America. It meant lake houses, national parks, shopping sprees and touring museums in the city. It was Betty's summer reading list, Polly lathered in aloe after burning again, and Alice fighting over directions with her stubborn husband as they drove around in circles in the mountains. 

Summers aren't really about family anymore. Her soon to be ex is rotting in prison, and her daughters are off doing their own thing. It’s now about Polly with the twins out in Kansas of all places, and Betty running ragged over her unpaid internship. Alice was excited for her to take a week off, only to be disappointed when Betty announced she would be going glamping with her friends, Jughead included.

Because of course the Lodge family would have a lodge in the mountains. 

This summer is sleeping in because she has no job, no routine. This summer means no more milkshakes because Pop's is being renovated into a Speakeasy.

It's not knowing how to cook for one so eating ramen and frozen pizzas for an entire week is acceptable.

It's Alice not bearing to go out and face the court of public opinion. 

But there is the occasional moment in between when she forgets that she's so lonely.

Moments like when FP Jones knocks on her door inviting himself in because his air conditioner is supposedly busted. 

Or when he drags her out to dip her feet in the river and she drags him in instead. 

Or when he doesn't bat an eye when she calls him the first night of the kids’ trip. 

“Come over. We can watch a crappy movie” FP says even though it's past midnight. Surprisingly, she agrees and tells herself it has nothing to do with the evil energy Hal left behind in her house.

She falls asleep on his couch that night and the night after that and she wakes up tangled in his bed with his soft snores coming from the living room. On the third night, she brings a toothbrush in her purse and when sleep is overtaking her, Alice keeps her arm around his waist, keeping him firmly with her. It's bordering on inappropriate and although they've both filed the paperwork, they are still technically married to other people. So they leave it at gentle touches that mean everything and nothing at all. 

On the fourth night, Alice and FP sit on her deck a pitcher of her infamous lemonade on the table, and a peaceful silence hanging between them. FP gulps his glass down, thankful for something refreshing in the unbearable July heat. 

The blazing sun dips below the horizon, the sky every shade of red and orange imaginable. It looks like it belongs in a 19th Century landscape painting. The faint smell of smoke hangs around them, an ever-present reminder of the fires just a few hundred miles away.

“I’ve never seen a sunset like this,” FP mentions offhand. “Do you think it’s because of the fires?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Alice shrugs. She’s been trying very hard not think about it. It hasn’t rained in over six weeks, the river is running low, and her normally impeccable grass looks like hay. She just keeps hoping that the fires won’t reach close to home, that maybe it will finally rain.

Yet, she has fire radar sites bookmarked on her toolbar and google alerts set up for Riverdale-Greendale-Centerville tri-city area. She already has her emergency bags packed by the door; passports, pictures, important documents are safely filed away.

She knows better than anyone that it’s foolhardy to live in ignorance. 

Alice is somewhat thankful her daughters and both his kids are out of state.

“At what point do we throw in the towel and leave?” he pours himself another glass. 

“I'm sure they'll evacuate the town if it gets that bad.”

FP snorts. “ _ You _ trust the authorities? Since when?"

“Touche,” she says because she's too tired to come up with anything else. Sleep has been elusive and even the three previous nights at the Jones’ trailer is not enough to recuperate from the weeks she spent avoiding nightmares.

“We should go,” he states simply as he continues to watch the bright colours dance in the sky. The occasional bird flies overhead and the crickets chirp in the dying yellow grass.

“Where do you want to go?”

He shrugs and places his empty glass on the patio table. “Anywhere.”

“Want to go to the Wyrm?” Alice offers as she moves a coaster under his glass. “Or maybe we can catch a movie at the Bijou?”

“No, no. That’s not what I meant,” FP shakes his head. “Let’s  _ go _ somewhere. Somewhere else.”

She runs her finger around the rim of her glass. It would be so easy to pack up her things and go anywhere that isn’t here. To start over somewhere else where nobody whispers  _ how could she not know?  _

Even so, she says the reasonable thing. “FP, we can’t just  _ leave _ .”  

“Sure we can.”

“Our lives are here,”  she adds and it doesn’t sound believable even to her ears. Nowadays, her life is her children. But her first born is six feet under, her middle child is in a different state, and her youngest is looking at colleges far away from here. There is nobody keeping her in Riverdale.

That is, nobody other than FP.

“Hear me out, Alice. You know as well as I do that the winds might change at any moment. The difference between a controlled fire and an uncontrolled one is time. I know you must already have an emergency bag packed somewhere in that house.”

She purses her lips. Is she really that predictable? She always has an emergency kit ready in case the sky got angry and they had to face its wrath. Passports, pictures and other important documents are also ready to go. 

“It’ll be fun! Let’s get away for a few days,” FP continues. “We’ll meet up with the kids later, but for now we could both use a little vacation.”

Alice tilts her head and pretends to ponder. “Only if we take my car. I don't trust your truck to get any further than city limits.”

“Hey!” he cries indignantly. All it takes is a raised eyebrow for FP to concede his defeat. “Okay, fine. You drive a hard bargain. I accept your terms.”

Alice simply rolls her eyes. He can be so dramatic when he wants to be.

  
  


 

At first light, they add FP’s stuff to her car. They had gone back to the trailer park after Alice loaded up a single suitcase and a few banker boxes the night before. Citing convenience, Alice stayed the night. Again.

It had nothing to do with the fact that his pillow was more comfortable than hers. Or the fact that in the space of just a few days, she’s gotten used to falling asleep with a pillow that smells just like him.

Alice buckles up her seatbelt and turns her key. “Next stop, Anywhere But Here.”

FP laughs over the sound of the engine coming to life. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

Neither can she. Apprehension and excitement twists in her stomach. 

“Last chance, FP,” keeping a hand on her parking brake, she turns her head to him. “Did you grab everything you need?”

“I think so,” he strokes his dark beard in thought. “Are you set? You didn’t grab much other than food.”

Alice nods, silently. Other than food, she has a first aid kit, important documents, pictures and her daughters’ old baby blankets tucked away in the trunk.

“There’s no turning back,” he warns and Alice rolls her eyes. Of course she’s thought about that already. The stench of smoke got more pungent through the night and they both know that it will likely get worse. “Alice, are you willing to let everything else burn?”

Alice reaches for his hand, trying to convey everything she’s been denying with a simple touch.

She has everything she needs in her car.  

“Let it burn.”

 

-

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
